The book examines the various sources, distinctive forms, privileged recipients, and likely extent of almsgiving in the churches of the later empire. Almsgiving was crucial in the construction of the ...
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The book examines the various sources, distinctive forms, privileged recipients, and likely extent of almsgiving in the churches of the later empire. Almsgiving was crucial in the construction of the bishop's authority, but was also a cooperative task involving clerics and laity in which honour was shared and which exposed the bishop to criticism. Almsgiving by monks belongs in the context of self-dispossession and attracted further alms for distribution to the destitute, but proved controversial not least because of the potential for competition with bishops. Lay people were encouraged to give, at set times and in particular places, both through the Church's agency and directly to the poor. These practices gained meaning from the promotion of almsgiving in many forms, of which preaching was the most important. It involved redescription of the poor and the incorporation of almsgiving within the virtues of generosity and justice. So cast, Christian almsgiving differed from pagan almsgiving as an honourable benefaction typical of leadership. This distinctive pattern of thought and conduct existed alongside an older classical pattern of benefaction, and the interaction between them generated controversy over the conduct of bishops and consecrated virgins. The co-inherence of co-operation and competition in Christian almsgiving, together with the continued existence of traditional euergetism, meant, however, that Christian alms did not, as is sometimes thought, turn bishops into the megapatrons of their cities.Less

Almsgiving in the Later Roman Empire : Christian Promotion and Practice 313-450

Richard Finn OP

Published in print: 2006-02-23

The book examines the various sources, distinctive forms, privileged recipients, and likely extent of almsgiving in the churches of the later empire. Almsgiving was crucial in the construction of the bishop's authority, but was also a cooperative task involving clerics and laity in which honour was shared and which exposed the bishop to criticism. Almsgiving by monks belongs in the context of self-dispossession and attracted further alms for distribution to the destitute, but proved controversial not least because of the potential for competition with bishops. Lay people were encouraged to give, at set times and in particular places, both through the Church's agency and directly to the poor. These practices gained meaning from the promotion of almsgiving in many forms, of which preaching was the most important. It involved redescription of the poor and the incorporation of almsgiving within the virtues of generosity and justice. So cast, Christian almsgiving differed from pagan almsgiving as an honourable benefaction typical of leadership. This distinctive pattern of thought and conduct existed alongside an older classical pattern of benefaction, and the interaction between them generated controversy over the conduct of bishops and consecrated virgins. The co-inherence of co-operation and competition in Christian almsgiving, together with the continued existence of traditional euergetism, meant, however, that Christian alms did not, as is sometimes thought, turn bishops into the megapatrons of their cities.

This introductory chapter sets the scene by describing first the urban churches of the late empire, their likely size, income and other wealth, and geographical spread. It examines the diverse forms ...
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This introductory chapter sets the scene by describing first the urban churches of the late empire, their likely size, income and other wealth, and geographical spread. It examines the diverse forms of poverty experienced in the late empire to distinguish those whose scant means afforded them a limited dignity, but who lived at risk of destitution in times of shortage or famine, from those beggars whom destitution forced into a dishonourable dependency. The chapter reviews past and present scholarship on Christian almsgiving, which was hampered in its infancy by confessional prejudice that saw in the preaching of redemptive almsgiving evidence of corruption from the pure charity of the earliest Christians. More recent scholarship has suffered from a tendency to examine practices separately from the meanings informing them.Less

Introduction

Richard Finn Op

Published in print: 2006-02-23

This introductory chapter sets the scene by describing first the urban churches of the late empire, their likely size, income and other wealth, and geographical spread. It examines the diverse forms of poverty experienced in the late empire to distinguish those whose scant means afforded them a limited dignity, but who lived at risk of destitution in times of shortage or famine, from those beggars whom destitution forced into a dishonourable dependency. The chapter reviews past and present scholarship on Christian almsgiving, which was hampered in its infancy by confessional prejudice that saw in the preaching of redemptive almsgiving evidence of corruption from the pure charity of the earliest Christians. More recent scholarship has suffered from a tendency to examine practices separately from the meanings informing them.

This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take ...
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This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take risks and leave their homes in order to create opportunities for themselves and their families. There is every reason to suppose that economic migrants in the ancient world would have been equally entrepreneurial and dynamic. A primary motivation for the movement of people in the modern world is the desire to escape financial destitution and starvation, though distress caused by political upheavals runs a close second. In the ancient world by contrast, where servile labor was readily available, merchants and craftsmen were the ones most likely to better their economic circumstances by migration.Less

The Economic Migrant

Robert Garland

Published in print: 2014-07-21

This chapter examines the reasons for becoming an economic migrant. In the modern world, economic migrants tend to be both entrepreneurial and dynamic, having demonstrated their willingness to take risks and leave their homes in order to create opportunities for themselves and their families. There is every reason to suppose that economic migrants in the ancient world would have been equally entrepreneurial and dynamic. A primary motivation for the movement of people in the modern world is the desire to escape financial destitution and starvation, though distress caused by political upheavals runs a close second. In the ancient world by contrast, where servile labor was readily available, merchants and craftsmen were the ones most likely to better their economic circumstances by migration.

This book deals comprehensively with the problem of poverty and undernourishment, and addresses the debate over methods of estimating their incidence. It is an analytical and empirical inquiry into ...
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This book deals comprehensively with the problem of poverty and undernourishment, and addresses the debate over methods of estimating their incidence. It is an analytical and empirical inquiry into human well‐being and the phenomenon of destitution as it occurs among rural populations of the poor countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A central concern has been to reconcile theoretical considerations with empirical work in several disciplines—anthropology, demography, ecology, economics, epidemiology, geography, moral and political philosophy, and the environmental, nutrition, and political sciences. The discussion aims to provide a political philosophy for human well‐being that can guide public policy in poor countries. Thus, the role of the state, communities, households, and individuals is studied in detail. The book is arranged in four parts: I, Well‐being: theory and realization; II, Allocation of resources among households: the standard theory; III, The household and its setting: extensions of the standard theory; and IV, Undernourishment and destitution. It is suitable for general readers interested in applied political and moral philosophy, for social scientists (especially academics in the fields of development and welfare economics, general economic theory, and anthropology), and for nutrition scientists, policy makers, commentators, and research staff.Less

An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution

Partha Dasgupta

Published in print: 1995-06-15

This book deals comprehensively with the problem of poverty and undernourishment, and addresses the debate over methods of estimating their incidence. It is an analytical and empirical inquiry into human well‐being and the phenomenon of destitution as it occurs among rural populations of the poor countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A central concern has been to reconcile theoretical considerations with empirical work in several disciplines—anthropology, demography, ecology, economics, epidemiology, geography, moral and political philosophy, and the environmental, nutrition, and political sciences. The discussion aims to provide a political philosophy for human well‐being that can guide public policy in poor countries. Thus, the role of the state, communities, households, and individuals is studied in detail. The book is arranged in four parts: I, Well‐being: theory and realization; II, Allocation of resources among households: the standard theory; III, The household and its setting: extensions of the standard theory; and IV, Undernourishment and destitution. It is suitable for general readers interested in applied political and moral philosophy, for social scientists (especially academics in the fields of development and welfare economics, general economic theory, and anthropology), and for nutrition scientists, policy makers, commentators, and research staff.

This chapter analyses the empirical lessons of economic policy for various redistributive programmes for poverty alleviation arising from the sample of developing countries examined in the book. It ...
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This chapter analyses the empirical lessons of economic policy for various redistributive programmes for poverty alleviation arising from the sample of developing countries examined in the book. It also looks explicitly at the political economy of public income transfers, and finds that both in theory and practice the role of direct transfers in alleviating poverty is likely to be limited. The eight sections of the chapter are (1) mass poverty and growth: the evidence from the country studies; (2) the direct method of alleviating structural poverty; (3) conjunctural poverty, destitution, and transfers; (4) private versus public transfers in social safety nets; (5) the political economy of public income transfers; (6) unintended consequences of welfare states; (7) classical liberal principles and labour‐market insurance; and (8) guidelines for public action on social safety nets.Less

Income Transfers and Poverty Redressal

Deepak LalH. Myint

Published in print: 1998-10-08

This chapter analyses the empirical lessons of economic policy for various redistributive programmes for poverty alleviation arising from the sample of developing countries examined in the book. It also looks explicitly at the political economy of public income transfers, and finds that both in theory and practice the role of direct transfers in alleviating poverty is likely to be limited. The eight sections of the chapter are (1) mass poverty and growth: the evidence from the country studies; (2) the direct method of alleviating structural poverty; (3) conjunctural poverty, destitution, and transfers; (4) private versus public transfers in social safety nets; (5) the political economy of public income transfers; (6) unintended consequences of welfare states; (7) classical liberal principles and labour‐market insurance; and (8) guidelines for public action on social safety nets.

This book is the first of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because ...
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This book is the first of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are ten chapters in this first volume. The book as a whole attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.Less

The Political Economy of Hunger: Volume 1: Entitlement and Well-being

Published in print: 1991-02-21

This book is the first of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are ten chapters in this first volume. The book as a whole attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.

This book is the second of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because ...
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This book is the second of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are six chapters in this second volume. The book attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.Less

The Political Economy of Hunger: Volume 2: Famine Prevention

Published in print: 1991-02-21

This book is the second of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are six chapters in this second volume. The book attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.

This book is the third of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because ...
More

This book is the third of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are ten chapters in this third volume. The book attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.Less

The Political Economy of Hunger: Volume 3: Endemic Hunger

Published in print: 1991-10-17

This book is the third of three volumes. Every year millions of people are losing their lives around the world, undeterred by the widespread opulence and remarkably higher per capita income, because of sporadic famines, endemic undernourishment, and destitution; let alone those hundreds of millions leading lives of never-ending vulnerability and want. This book is a collection of twenty six chapters in three volumes. There are ten chapters in this third volume. The book attempts to explore many of the vague phenomena as to the characteristics, causation, and possible antidotes of hunger in the contemporary world. By carrying out both analytical and empirical investigations, it dwells on the need for a broader perspective for better understanding of the reasons and remedies of hunger.

A case study of the Ethiopian Famine of 1972–4, which had a reported death toll of between 50, 000 and 200, 000 in a population of about 27 million. An explanation for the famine is analysed in terms ...
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A case study of the Ethiopian Famine of 1972–4, which had a reported death toll of between 50, 000 and 200, 000 in a population of about 27 million. An explanation for the famine is analysed in terms of the most common approach used—food availability decline (FAD), but this is rejected except for the situation in the province of Wollo, which is discussed in terms of possible transport or entitlement constraints. The occupational status of the destitutes (victims) in Wollo is analysed and the most susceptible groups—the nomadic pastoralists and the agriculturalists—identified. The entitlement situations of these two groups are discussed.Less

The Ethiopian Famine

Amartya Sen

Published in print: 1983-01-20

A case study of the Ethiopian Famine of 1972–4, which had a reported death toll of between 50, 000 and 200, 000 in a population of about 27 million. An explanation for the famine is analysed in terms of the most common approach used—food availability decline (FAD), but this is rejected except for the situation in the province of Wollo, which is discussed in terms of possible transport or entitlement constraints. The occupational status of the destitutes (victims) in Wollo is analysed and the most susceptible groups—the nomadic pastoralists and the agriculturalists—identified. The entitlement situations of these two groups are discussed.

A case study of the drought of 1968–73, and the famines of the 1970s in the in the six West African countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Niger, and Chad. The famines are analysed in ...
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A case study of the drought of 1968–73, and the famines of the 1970s in the in the six West African countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Niger, and Chad. The famines are analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD) vis à vis entitlements, occupational status of the destitutes, and their entitlements. The most susceptible groups were the nomadic pastoralists and the sedentary agriculturalists. The last part of the chapter addresses some policy issues relating to the freeing of the Sahelian population from vulnerability to drought and famine.Less

Drought and Famine in the Sahel

Amartya Sen

Published in print: 1983-01-20

A case study of the drought of 1968–73, and the famines of the 1970s in the in the six West African countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Niger, and Chad. The famines are analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD) vis à vis entitlements, occupational status of the destitutes, and their entitlements. The most susceptible groups were the nomadic pastoralists and the sedentary agriculturalists. The last part of the chapter addresses some policy issues relating to the freeing of the Sahelian population from vulnerability to drought and famine.

A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food ...
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A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD), and this approach is shown to offer very little by way of explanation of the famine, although the general food shortage resulting from low food imports and government food stocks is identified as a constraint in government relief operations. An analysis of the occupational status and the intensity of destitution show that the largest group were labourers. The exchange entitlement of the labourers is analysed in detail, and it is concluded that this approach gives a much better understanding of the famine.Less

Famine in Bangladesh

Amartya Sen

Published in print: 1983-01-20

A case study of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, which was associated with the floods of that year, and had an official mortality of 26,000. The causation of the famine is analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD), and this approach is shown to offer very little by way of explanation of the famine, although the general food shortage resulting from low food imports and government food stocks is identified as a constraint in government relief operations. An analysis of the occupational status and the intensity of destitution show that the largest group were labourers. The exchange entitlement of the labourers is analysed in detail, and it is concluded that this approach gives a much better understanding of the famine.

This chapter introduces the book. It discusses welfare and happiness versus and freedom and rights as two ways of looking at personhood; facts and values in the phenomenon of destitution; destitution ...
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This chapter introduces the book. It discusses welfare and happiness versus and freedom and rights as two ways of looking at personhood; facts and values in the phenomenon of destitution; destitution as a resource allocation problem; the effects of ill health; the roles of institutions and agencies; and theory in relation to policy.Less

The Commodity Basis of Well‐Being

Partha Dasgupta

Published in print: 1995-06-15

This chapter introduces the book. It discusses welfare and happiness versus and freedom and rights as two ways of looking at personhood; facts and values in the phenomenon of destitution; destitution as a resource allocation problem; the effects of ill health; the roles of institutions and agencies; and theory in relation to policy.

Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, ...
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Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, excessive happiness — are central to Jane Eyre's story. This is no chilly narrative of self-help, but a much more compelling tale of the ‘wild wonderful and thrilling’, the ‘strange, startling and harrowing’; of starvation and destitution, and the glamour of aristocratic life. The awkward abrasiveness of The Professor is here replaced by a passionate directness, ‘more imaginative and poetical’. Indeed, Jane Eyre seems hardly to question its narrator's point of view. It appears that in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë is deliberately choosing to emphasize the dark underside of that gospel of self-sufficiency which Crimsworth sought to celebrate in his tale of successful self-help.Less

Triumph and Jeopardy: The Shape of Jane Eyre

Heather Glen

Published in print: 2004-03-18

Charlotte Brontë's account of what her first novel was not could serve as a description of her second. Those ‘sudden turns’ denied to William Crimsworth — unearned wealth, a transformative marriage, excessive happiness — are central to Jane Eyre's story. This is no chilly narrative of self-help, but a much more compelling tale of the ‘wild wonderful and thrilling’, the ‘strange, startling and harrowing’; of starvation and destitution, and the glamour of aristocratic life. The awkward abrasiveness of The Professor is here replaced by a passionate directness, ‘more imaginative and poetical’. Indeed, Jane Eyre seems hardly to question its narrator's point of view. It appears that in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë is deliberately choosing to emphasize the dark underside of that gospel of self-sufficiency which Crimsworth sought to celebrate in his tale of successful self-help.

Suhmata, as excavated from the memories and memorials of those who themselves lived through the nakba or whose lives were forever shaped by the expulsion. It is the testimonial of the victims on what ...
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Suhmata, as excavated from the memories and memorials of those who themselves lived through the nakba or whose lives were forever shaped by the expulsion. It is the testimonial of the victims on what actually took place, and the tenacity of their roots, their identity, and their demand to return to their villages and land. Contributing to the silence were the destitution and low educational levels of those worst hit by the expulsions of 1948, notably those coming from the villages destroyed by the Zionist troops, compounded by trauma, fear, feelings of powerlessness, and shame. It is only in the last two decades that the signal importance of the forgotten, overlooked, or suppressed voices of the powerless has been recognized, and that oral history has come into its own as an area of study.Less

Excavating Memory : Oral History and the Case of Suhmata

Camille MansourLeila Fawaz

Published in print: 2009-05-15

Suhmata, as excavated from the memories and memorials of those who themselves lived through the nakba or whose lives were forever shaped by the expulsion. It is the testimonial of the victims on what actually took place, and the tenacity of their roots, their identity, and their demand to return to their villages and land. Contributing to the silence were the destitution and low educational levels of those worst hit by the expulsions of 1948, notably those coming from the villages destroyed by the Zionist troops, compounded by trauma, fear, feelings of powerlessness, and shame. It is only in the last two decades that the signal importance of the forgotten, overlooked, or suppressed voices of the powerless has been recognized, and that oral history has come into its own as an area of study.

This chapter examines England's extremity. It is a mistake to view Ireland's response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 in pro- or anti-British terms. With the enactment of Home Rule, ...
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This chapter examines England's extremity. It is a mistake to view Ireland's response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 in pro- or anti-British terms. With the enactment of Home Rule, John Dillon felt justified in talking of the ‘union of two democracies’ of Britain and Ireland in the coming struggle in Europe despite the postponement of the Home Rule Act for the duration of the war. Along with this, the continued regardless of political events in Ireland and the shifting direction of public opinion and his impassioned pleas for chaplains reflected a deep concern for their spiritual welfare. In his statements to the press, Logue painted a picture of Catholic souls either in imminent and mortal peril or a state of ‘spiritual destitution’. He did not pronounce on the morality of enlistment but was convinced that Catholic chaplains were performing a service of absolute good.Less

England's extremity

John Privilege

Published in print: 2009-02-01

This chapter examines England's extremity. It is a mistake to view Ireland's response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 in pro- or anti-British terms. With the enactment of Home Rule, John Dillon felt justified in talking of the ‘union of two democracies’ of Britain and Ireland in the coming struggle in Europe despite the postponement of the Home Rule Act for the duration of the war. Along with this, the continued regardless of political events in Ireland and the shifting direction of public opinion and his impassioned pleas for chaplains reflected a deep concern for their spiritual welfare. In his statements to the press, Logue painted a picture of Catholic souls either in imminent and mortal peril or a state of ‘spiritual destitution’. He did not pronounce on the morality of enlistment but was convinced that Catholic chaplains were performing a service of absolute good.

This chapter considers the refused asylum seekers and discusses destitution, poverty, and social networks. It begins with a discussion of the European policy context and the status of destitution in ...
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This chapter considers the refused asylum seekers and discusses destitution, poverty, and social networks. It begins with a discussion of the European policy context and the status of destitution in the UK. The chapter ends with a section on some asylum seekers who do not return for voluntary assisted return due to fear of persecution and those who do not receive support from the state. Several excerpts of personal accounts are provided as well.Less

Refused asylum seekers, destitution, poverty and social networks

Maggie O'Neill

Published in print: 2010-09-17

This chapter considers the refused asylum seekers and discusses destitution, poverty, and social networks. It begins with a discussion of the European policy context and the status of destitution in the UK. The chapter ends with a section on some asylum seekers who do not return for voluntary assisted return due to fear of persecution and those who do not receive support from the state. Several excerpts of personal accounts are provided as well.

In the time since our fieldwork completed in November 2016, we are still reminded everyday about the people we met in Valdemingómez because we exposed ourselves to a brazen reality which is far from ...
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In the time since our fieldwork completed in November 2016, we are still reminded everyday about the people we met in Valdemingómez because we exposed ourselves to a brazen reality which is far from public consciousness and yet close to political inertia. This is especially the case when we walk around the glory and city-centre paradise in Madrid’ city centre, knowing that only a few kilometres south, in some forgotten corner of the city, there exists an unimaginable poverty which has turned socially septic. We got to know the people there rather than judge them for their disheveled appearance, brutal attitudes towards damaging drug use and absolute destitution. Here we acknowledge for a time that Valdemingómez had us hooked; the peoples’ circumstances, their stories, and the sight of it all. And in doing so, we have unlocked a consciousness about how the world works which we cannot seal for we are able to recognize where else similar destructive processes are taking place which ravage the lives of the most vulnerable in society. For we see the below the opulence and pizzazz of the commercial city centres, we see its oppressive undercurrents in action on a daily basis; in the city’s shadows, where rampant inequality lurks and the conventional fractures.Less

Epilogue

Daniel BriggsRubén Monge Gamero

Published in print: 2017-11-08

In the time since our fieldwork completed in November 2016, we are still reminded everyday about the people we met in Valdemingómez because we exposed ourselves to a brazen reality which is far from public consciousness and yet close to political inertia. This is especially the case when we walk around the glory and city-centre paradise in Madrid’ city centre, knowing that only a few kilometres south, in some forgotten corner of the city, there exists an unimaginable poverty which has turned socially septic. We got to know the people there rather than judge them for their disheveled appearance, brutal attitudes towards damaging drug use and absolute destitution. Here we acknowledge for a time that Valdemingómez had us hooked; the peoples’ circumstances, their stories, and the sight of it all. And in doing so, we have unlocked a consciousness about how the world works which we cannot seal for we are able to recognize where else similar destructive processes are taking place which ravage the lives of the most vulnerable in society. For we see the below the opulence and pizzazz of the commercial city centres, we see its oppressive undercurrents in action on a daily basis; in the city’s shadows, where rampant inequality lurks and the conventional fractures.

This introductory chapter explains how the book portrays images of prostitutes in Berlin that defy common stereotypes of deviance and destitution. It demolishes the dichotomized view of prostitutes ...
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This introductory chapter explains how the book portrays images of prostitutes in Berlin that defy common stereotypes of deviance and destitution. It demolishes the dichotomized view of prostitutes as either victims or agents of destruction reproduced in existing scholarship, which produces narratives laden with judgments. The chapter also explains how Berlin, as a quintessential modern European city in early twentieth century, inspires rich discourses on prostitution. While certain authors treat prostitution as a symptom of a corrupt bourgeois economic order and exploitative gender relations, others use it to explore visions of alternative moralities or sexual countercultures, such as the free-love relationship, the “New Morality,” lesbian love, or various incarnations of the “New Woman.” The book also addresses the issue of distinguishing between prostitutes and other women, in a way that questions existing structures of female sexuality, morality, and desire.Less

Introduction: Berlin’s Bourgeois Whores

Jill Suzanne Smith

Published in print: 2014-02-28

This introductory chapter explains how the book portrays images of prostitutes in Berlin that defy common stereotypes of deviance and destitution. It demolishes the dichotomized view of prostitutes as either victims or agents of destruction reproduced in existing scholarship, which produces narratives laden with judgments. The chapter also explains how Berlin, as a quintessential modern European city in early twentieth century, inspires rich discourses on prostitution. While certain authors treat prostitution as a symptom of a corrupt bourgeois economic order and exploitative gender relations, others use it to explore visions of alternative moralities or sexual countercultures, such as the free-love relationship, the “New Morality,” lesbian love, or various incarnations of the “New Woman.” The book also addresses the issue of distinguishing between prostitutes and other women, in a way that questions existing structures of female sexuality, morality, and desire.

This book poses the question of an imperative to write as it was claimed, elaborated, and undergone by three of the twentieth century’s most philosophically informed writers, Franz Kafka, Maurice ...
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This book poses the question of an imperative to write as it was claimed, elaborated, and undergone by three of the twentieth century’s most philosophically informed writers, Franz Kafka, Maurice Blanchot, and Samuel Beckett. All three of these writers stress repeatedly and in multiple ways the hyperbolic and exclusive nature of the necessity to write, but the terms of this necessity waver between a groundless and categorical imperative that shadows Kant’s moral philosophy, and a sheer, unstoppable compulsion which at its extremes raises the specter of torture. The book shows that in each case this wavering course maps out a trajectory residually similar to that of the classical notion of the sublime found in Kant, but rather than leading to a supersensible power and a metaphysical moral vocation, the adventures undergone by these writers reveal an otherworldly space of uncanny images and endless fictive speech: literary space not as a reflection of the world but as its infernal, unreal and abyssal ground. Drawing on the thought of Heidegger, Freud, Nancy and Lacoue-Labarthe, the book shows that Kafka, Blanchot and Beckett deliberately destitute their texts of any treasures promised by literature in its sublime or redemptive tendencies. Structured as profoundly melancholic, their texts are traversed by dead and dying bodies, ghosts and revenants, and voices compelled to speak in a void, but in their figurative and linguistic specificites they also bear witness to singularities of time and experience from which their extreme fictions, and their haunting imperatives, are derived.Less

The Imperative to Write : Destitutions of the Sublime in Kafka, Blanchot and Beckett

Jeff Fort

Published in print: 2014-03-03

This book poses the question of an imperative to write as it was claimed, elaborated, and undergone by three of the twentieth century’s most philosophically informed writers, Franz Kafka, Maurice Blanchot, and Samuel Beckett. All three of these writers stress repeatedly and in multiple ways the hyperbolic and exclusive nature of the necessity to write, but the terms of this necessity waver between a groundless and categorical imperative that shadows Kant’s moral philosophy, and a sheer, unstoppable compulsion which at its extremes raises the specter of torture. The book shows that in each case this wavering course maps out a trajectory residually similar to that of the classical notion of the sublime found in Kant, but rather than leading to a supersensible power and a metaphysical moral vocation, the adventures undergone by these writers reveal an otherworldly space of uncanny images and endless fictive speech: literary space not as a reflection of the world but as its infernal, unreal and abyssal ground. Drawing on the thought of Heidegger, Freud, Nancy and Lacoue-Labarthe, the book shows that Kafka, Blanchot and Beckett deliberately destitute their texts of any treasures promised by literature in its sublime or redemptive tendencies. Structured as profoundly melancholic, their texts are traversed by dead and dying bodies, ghosts and revenants, and voices compelled to speak in a void, but in their figurative and linguistic specificites they also bear witness to singularities of time and experience from which their extreme fictions, and their haunting imperatives, are derived.

This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of women’s rights in India. This historical exploration was undertaken to gauge the nature and scope of law reform which is ...
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This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of women’s rights in India. This historical exploration was undertaken to gauge the nature and scope of law reform which is imperative to reverse the current trend of poverty and destitution among women. The analysis reveals that the history of women’s rights is not linear with the religious and customary laws forming one extreme end of the scale and the statutory reforms slowly and steadily progressing towards the other end, as it is popularly believed. The findings also suggest that women’s rights are not only constrained by a uniform set of patriarchal norms but are also shaped and moulded by several social, economic and political currents.Less

Conclusions

Flavia Agnes

Published in print: 2001-05-31

This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the history of women’s rights in India. This historical exploration was undertaken to gauge the nature and scope of law reform which is imperative to reverse the current trend of poverty and destitution among women. The analysis reveals that the history of women’s rights is not linear with the religious and customary laws forming one extreme end of the scale and the statutory reforms slowly and steadily progressing towards the other end, as it is popularly believed. The findings also suggest that women’s rights are not only constrained by a uniform set of patriarchal norms but are also shaped and moulded by several social, economic and political currents.